Breakdown of Sie kaufte beide dicken Sachbücher über das Thema, das ich spannend finde.
ich
I
sie
she
kaufen
to buy
finden
to find
über
about (a topic)
dick
thick / fat
das Thema
the topic
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
spannend
exciting, thrilling
beide
both
das Sachbuch
the non-fiction book
Questions & Answers about Sie kaufte beide dicken Sachbücher über das Thema, das ich spannend finde.
Why does the adjective have an -en ending in beide dicken Sachbücher?
In the plural, the word beide (both) acts just like a definite plural article (like die). Because of this, the adjective that follows it takes the weak ending -en. This is why it is beide dicken and not beide dicke. Words like alle work the exact same way, whereas words like viele or einige do not act like articles and would leave the strong -e ending on the following adjective.
Why do we use the accusative das Thema after über? Isn't über a two-way preposition?
It is! When describing physical location (over or above), über changes case depending on whether there is movement to a new place. However, when über is used to mean "about" a topic, it is no longer about physical space. In this abstract sense, über always triggers the accusative case.
What is the second das doing in the middle of the sentence?
This das is a relative pronoun meaning "that" or "which". It introduces a relative clause describing das Thema. It takes the neuter gender to match das Thema, and it is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of the verb finde (I find it exciting). Notice how this relative clause pushes the conjugated verb (finde) to the very end of the sentence.
What does Sachbücher mean literally?
Sachbücher is the plural of das Sachbuch, which translates to "non-fiction book". It is a compound word made from die Sache (the thing, matter, or factual issue) and das Buch (the book). So, non-fiction books in German are literally "factual books"!
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